President Bush just left the podium in the Indian Treaty Room of the Executive Office Building, and I feel the need to hastily comment on a few observations I made on both his presentation and his message. First, he sounds like a different president. He appeared extremely confident and humble, two qualities that one would rarely attribute to his performance in most press conferences, but I get the sense that he has decided (about two years too late) that it is time to drop the drawl and show a different face to the American people, who have quickly lost their affinity for his "common man" approach to public speaking. It was refreshing to hear my girlfriend admit that he actually sounded coherent, rather than her typical impression of him as a bumbling fool. Second, I think the comments he made about the historical implications of his presidency being far from quantifiable will be lost on all of the cable news pundits who live and die by public opinion polls that are more driven by the sensational representation of the dire situation in Iraq than on any of the actual accomplishments (or lack thereof) of the administration over the past six years. It is the unfortunate byproduct of today's media environment that every minor development is considered crucial to the ultimate success of the mission, which any historian will tell you fails to do justice to the efforts of the president, his cabinet and the public perception of his policies. More to follow...
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